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Combined Force Detains 7 Suspected Insurgents

WASHINGTON, Sept. 22, 2011  A combined Afghan and coalition security force detained seven suspected insurgents during a search for an Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan suicide bomber in the Imam Sahib district of Afghanistan’s Kunduz province yesterday, military officials reported.

The sought-after suicide bomber coordinates the purchase and movement of weapons, roadside bombs and suicide bombers from Takhar to Kunduz provinces.

In other Afghanistan operations yesterday:

-- A coalition force discovered 10 improvised explosive devices while patrolling near a village in the Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand province. The force cordoned off the area and called in an explosive ordnance disposal unit, which safely destroyed the IEDs.

-- A combined patrol discovered an IED cache in the Zharay district of Kandahar province. The cache contained 12 IEDs, each containing about 18 pounds of home-made explosives.

-- Also in Nahr-e Saraj, a combined force detained multiple suspects during a search for a Taliban leader who brings in insurgent fighters from Pakistan and places them under Taliban control.

-- A combined force captured a Haqqani network leader, detained two suspects and confiscated weapons and ammunition in the Bak district of Khost province. The leader moved roadside bombs across the border and throughout the province. He also planned vehicle-bomb attacks and provided insurgents with weapons and equipment.

-- Combined forces killed 22 insurgents, detained four suspects and seized a weapons cache during several operations in the Regional Command East area. The cache contained one explosive device, one heavy machine gun, one pistol and an assault rifle, one rocket-propelled grenade launcher with four rounds, one sniper veil, one light machine gun, some 7.62mm ammunition, and three empty magazines.

-- Two unmanned aerial vehicles crashed in the Pul-E-Alam district of Logar province and the Behsud district of Nangarhar province due to mechanical problems. Both UAVs were recovered and there was little to no enemy activity in the area prior to the crash.

In Sept. 20 Afghanistan operations:

-- Acombined force killed a key Taliban leader and an associate during a security operation in the Sayyidabad district of Wardak province. A precision airstrike killed Taliban leader Qari Tahir, after he and an associate were located in a dry riverbed. Tahir coordinated ambushes against Afghan forces, led fighters to hijack convoy vehicles, and conducted kidnappings for ransom. Tahir was the target of an Aug. 5 operation that resulted in the loss of a CH-47 Chinook helicopter. So far this year, security forces conducted more than 40 operations in the Sayyidabad district, killing 35 insurgents and detaining more than 80 suspects.